Days after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to strip millions of dollars and move hundreds of workers away from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the agency's CEO announced her resignation Friday.
Va Lecia Adams Kellum is expected to remain on board for a transition period of 120 days or longer if needed, according to a letter she submitted to LAHSA's board of commissioners Friday afternoon.
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"I am incredibly proud of LAHSA's talented and dedicated staff and deeply grateful for their tireless work. I thank them and the commission for the opportunity to serve as CEO and for our partnership in reducing homelessness in our region," Adams Kellum said in a statement.
In her resignation letter, Adams Kellum said it was the "right time" for her to step down after county leaders implemented a recommendation from the 2020 Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness, which called for shifting key responsibilities from the agency to a centralized department.
LAHSA Commission Chair Wendy Gruel said that when they hired Adams Kellum in 2023, it was for her to be an "agent" of change. In a statement, Gruel said Adams Kellum has delivered "significant improvements" in areas such as transparency, contracting, provider payments and accountability.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass credited Adams Kellum as the architect of Inside Safe, a signature program intended to resolve street encampments and bring people into temporary housing.
"Despite this broken system, while homelessness rises across the country, Los Angeles is bucking that trend -- street homelessness declined for the first time in more than six years, and early reports show that this progress continues for a second year," Bass said in a statement. "This would not have been possible without Dr. Adams Kellum's leadership and bold vision for what's possible."
"She helped us move the needle to save lives, restore neighborhoods and show that homelessness can be solved," Bass added.
On Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors advanced a proposal to create its own department to coordinate regional homeless services, effectively de-funding LAHSA, a joint county-city agency that has long overseen such programs and that has come under fire due to the persistent crisis of people living on the streets.
The new county agency is expected to be in place by Jan. 1, with all funding pulled from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and transferred to the new county department by July 1, 2026.
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